Reform School
by KnightMysterio
Summary: Twilight Sparkle had an idea one day - create a school where villains could learn to be better ponies (or whatever their species was) and become contributing members of society. So she reach out to all her former enemies (that haven't reformed already), and convinces them to volunteer for her program of reformation. It all seems innocent enough. So why is Discord uneasy?


_**Reform School**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Convocation**_

 _ **by Jonathan "KnightMysterio" Spires**_

 _All characters not original copyrighted to Hasbro and used for non-profit amusement purposes. All original characters are copyrighted to me, so no steals. Comments, compliments, and constructive criticism is encouraged and very welcome._

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 _Ponyville..._

 _Friendship Castle..._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Chrysalis sighed wearily, the former Queen of the Changeling race glaring up at the crystalline palace belonging to the little sister of her nemeses, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. It was galling. It was beyond galling that she had to go to the home of an enemy in supplication like this.

But... she was out of options. The deal was too good. 'Attend classes on being a better pony at the Friendship Castle and we will actively assist the Changeling race in integrating peacefully with the Equestrian populace.' She needed to do this to save her people from extinction.

"You're doing the right thing," said a soft voice from behind her.

Chrysalis yelped, taking to the air and reflexively charging her horn with magic. She whirled, seeing a small yellow pegasus behind her. Said pegasus squeaked in fright.

"S-Sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm Fluttershy, I..."

"I remember you from the wedding," Chrysalis said, calming down and landing. "One of Sparkle's friends, correct?"

Fluttershy nodded, smiling. "Yes. And I just wanted to assure you that you are doing the right thing. Not just for your people, but for yourself as well."

Chrysalis glared at her. She wanted to tell the little pegasus off, to put the fear of death into her... but she sighed. "Whatever..." she muttered. She didn't have the energy, quite literally, to deal with her right now.

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, frowning. To Chrysalis's surprise, she could sense the sincerity of her concern. She debated lying to get her away, but she had a feeling she'd be able to see through it.

"No," Chrysalis admitted. "Ever since my failed invasion, my people have been slowly starving. Because I got ambitious, my people went from rumor to public knowledge. I was so scared of us being discovered and oppressed that I got jumpy... and have made things even worse for my people than they were to begin with..."

Fluttershy nuzzled her. Chrysalis blinked, shying away a little, surprised by the freely given affection. Fluttershy just smiled. "We do want to help. And there's already changelings living in pony society without incident."

Chrysalis frowned. "Yes... Breakaways from the hive, ones that actually fell in love with those who are supposed to be their marks... How are they?" she said.

Fluttershy was pleased to hear the honest concern in Chrysalis's voice. "There was some confusion at first, the guards jumping the gun a little, but the families stood up for them and got them released. It's part of the reason why Twilight got the idea to invite you to the school."

Chrysalis sneered, and looked up at the castle. A light glinted off a crystalline spire, briefly blinding her. "So how is this imbecilic school supposed to work, anyway?" Chrysalis asked.

Fluttershy giggled. "You'll see. Would you kindly go inside?" she asked politely.

Chrysalis shrugged, and entered the castle. The inside, unexpectedly, was larger than the outside. The front hall reminded her of Canterlot Castle, but it seemed... warmer, somehow. More friendly and welcoming. The taste of the ambient emotions in the air were sweet, tinted with joy and happiness.

"Odd..." Chrysalis said, thinking aloud. "Canterlot Castle is so different..." The only time she felt such ambient warm emotions in Canterlot Castle was when Luna and Celestia talked to each other. She shrugged, and continued further in, spotting a sign directing her to a classroom. She followed the marked path, eventually coming to a large room filled with desks, the room occupied several ponies and other assorted creatures.

Discord she recognized immediately. The mismatched form of the draconequus was unmistakable. What he was doing there was a mystery to her, though, since she had heard he had reformed already. Leaning back in one of the desk chairs was a light turquoise pegasus with a golden mane, idly blowing a feather up and down that had landed on her face. Sitting near a corner were two male unicorns, both of them with red and white striped manes, wearing blue and white striped vests. One of the two twins had a mustache. Fidgeting with some sewing supplies near the front of the class was an orchird-colored earth pony mare with a sky blue scarf and three buttons for her cutie mark. Sitting near Discord was a nervous-looking unicorn mare with a spiral energy cutie mark, her coat almost the same color as the earth pony mare's. Also sitting near them was a stern, older-looking unicorn with a grayish coat and a mane that was varying shades of purple. Her cutie mark was a strange, blood-red crystal.

The one that REALLY got her attention, though, was the cloaked figure sitting near Discord and the others. She could taste the barely repressed anger coming off of him. Plus, she knew those blood red hands. A few months ago, one of them, albeit much muscular than they were now, was wrapped around her throat as her magic was forcefully ripped away from her. She came up behind him, staring into the wizened, withered face beneath that cloak, at the glowing red eyes... and recognized who this figure was.

"Tirek..." Chrysalis said softly.

Tirek sneered at her. "Ah..." he said, his voice as withered as his body. "The bug. I remember the taste of your magic. Almost like chocolate hazelnut spread. Heheheh..."

Chrysalis sneered at him. "It seems you took Sparkle up on her offer, then?"

Tirek nodded. "Indeed, I've decided to pretend to go along with the little star's class. Anything was better than spending eternity in that cage in Tartarus," he muttered. He held up his hands, revealing the rune covered metal wristbands he wore. "Even dealing with these shackles is more pleasant."

Discord scoffed. "Come now. I go in and out of there all of the time. It can't be that bad?"

Tirek sneered at him. "Cerberus relieved himself near my cage into the lava pits. Have you ever smelled flash fried demon dog turds?"

Discord gagged. "Can't say I've had the displeasure."

Tirek shivered. "Be glad. Hopefully they'll have that incontinent beast guarding someone else now..."

Chrysalis shook her head, turning to the older unicorn, who was muttering angrily to herself. "So what's your story?" she asked. "The emotions I'm sensing from you are odd, a mix of fear and raw anger..."

"Afraid?" the older mare said. "Of course I'm afraid. I'm stuck here in an alternate reality for a month in a form not my own because a magical pony princess somehow talked my superiors into believing I needed 'reforming.' It wasn't my fault that my world's Twilight Sparkle got turned into a demoness. She should have done more testing before playing around with magic she didn't understand!"

Discord snorted. "From what I saw, you're the one who goaded her into using the magic just so your school could keep it's perfect record," he said.

The unicorn just glared at him. "What in blazes are you, anyway?"

"A better question is what are you even doing here, Discord?" Tirek demanded. "I thought the ponies already had you neutered with their friendship talk."

There was a brief pause as Discord's expression turned thoughtful. "I'm curious. This plan came somewhat out of the blue. I want to see how it plays out..." he said.

Chrysalis snorted. "In other words, you're playing your usual annoying games," she said.

Discord, to the surprise of Tirek and Chrysalis, looked worried. "Actually... I think someone's playing games with me..."

Before either could comment on that, Twilight Sparkle, flanked on either side by Rainbow Dash and Applejack, came into the room. Trailing behind her was Spike, wearing a fancy, curved brim hat and holding himself like a nobleman, carrying a scroll.

Discord snickered at the sight. "Oh now that's just adorable," he said. "Look at him. Look at how cute he is in his little hat."

"Actually," said the Earth pony seamstress, fiddling through her sewing kit. She pulled out a large, fluffy feather, walked over to Spike, and stuck it in the band of the hat. "There! NOW he looks adorable!"

The other villains in the room cracked up laughing, as did Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Twilight just smirked. "I told you the hat was too much," she said. Spike just grumbled, removing the hat at tossing it aside. The mustached unicorn immediately picked up the discarded hat, replacing the straw hat he wore with it. Spike grumbled even more.

Twilight chuckled, hugging Spike briefly before turning to the gathering. "Well. First off, let me welcome you to the first annual Equestrian Reform School meeting. You've all been established as major antagonists in some form or another, and are being given a chance to better yourselves and become productive members of society. Two of you have already reformed, in my view, but I thank you for participating anyway. It sets a good example for the others." She looked down at a clipboard she was carrying with her, and frowned. "Seems that three of your classmates are missing."

"Daring Do couldn't convince Dr. Caballeron and Ahuizotl to participate," Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight frowned. "Shame..."

The seamstress raised her hoof. Twilight smiled. "Yes, Suri?"

"Daring Do... as in the fictional character Daring Do?" Suri asked.

Discord answered for Twilight. "You'd be VERY surprised to learn which stories are fiction and which stories are true," he said. "Very surprised indeed."

The ponies in the room, save for the elder unicorn, looked visibly rattled by this revelation.

"What about the last one?" Twilight asked. She got her answer quickly, though, in the form of a savage voice screaming various vulgarities.

"LET GO OF ME YOU DOUCHETWAT BASTARDS! I'LL FORCE FEED YOU THE ENTRAILS OF YOUR OWN CHILDREN! I'LL PUT DICKS ON YOUR WIVES AND MAKE THEM RAPE YOU IN THE ASS! IN THE ASS, I TELL YOU!" screamed a voice. Six guards were dragging in a viciously struggling unicorn with a blood red curved horn, dark-gray fur, and a midnight black mane, the dark unicorn wrapped in mystical chains. Green energy radiated from his eyes as the guards forced the bound unicorn into a seat. "I'LL EVISCERATE A PUPPY AND MAKE YOU JUMP ROPE WITH ITS GUTS! LET ME GO!"

"...Who the hell is THAT lunatic?!" the elder unicorn said, visibly alarmed.

"I'm the sexiest stud in the universe, babe," the dark unicorn said, grinning wickedly at her. "Free me and I'll show you how to praise the ancients in a thousand different languages."

Discord cackled madly. Chrysalis sneered, finally recognizing him. "King Sombra. This... this is honestly pathetic, and I was alive when Celestia and Luna beat you the first time."

"I WILL RIP OFF YOUR ASS AND USE IT AS A HAT BECAUSE YOU ARE AN ASSHAT!" Sombra snarled.

"It seems your second resurrection has left you with little to use other than vulgarities," Tirek teased, smirking.

"At least I don't need enhancement to get my dick enlarged to a size the ladies will actually notice!" Sombra countered, sneering.

"Would you kindly behave yourselves, children?" Twilight asked, exasperated. The commotion in the back died down, Twilight forcing herself to smile. "Lovely. Anyway, let's all introduce ourselves, shall we? Would you kindly state your names and why you're here?"

The pegasus was the first to speak up. "Lightning Dust. Ex-Wonderbolt recruit. Repeated counts of reckless endangerment."

"And nearly getting my friends killed," Rainbow Dash muttered.

"You helped me make that tornado, Dash," Lightning Dust countered.

"Enough," Twilight said, motioning to Suri.

The seamstress sighed. "Suri Polomare, fashion designer. I... may have engaged in a little counterfitting and exploitation of my assistants talents to make myself look better than I actually was..." she said.

"We'll help you focus on developing your own talents, Suri," Twilight said, smiling. She turned to the two unicorn brothers, who leaped up onto their desks.

"He's Flim!" said the mustached brother, pointing to his twin.

"He's Flam!" said the clean-faced brother, pointing to his twin.

"And we're the Flim Flam Brothers!" they chorused. They started to sing, but Twilight stopped them.

"No musical numbers this early in the program, please," the lavender alicorn said, smiling.

Pouting, Flim and Flam sat down. "We're con-artists," Flam said after a moment. "We specialize in shilling false products to people, various financial scams, things like that."

"Miss Appletush over there has a grudge against us because we tried to swindle her farm out of her," Flim said. "We're really only here because we got caught and this was offered as a parole opportunity."

"You two do have talent," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's my hope that we can turn it to better ends. The same for a ll of you," Twilight said, motioning for the elder unicorn to speak next.

"My name is Principal Abacus Cinch," she said, scowling. "I'm not from this world, and I'm not a human, I'm a unicorn. I'm here because my superiors 'suggested' that I might learn to have more empathy for my students after an incident involving a magical accident."

Twilight frowned. "The 'magical accident' was you goading my counterpart into unleashing a power she didn't understand. It turned her into a Nightmare-equivalent entity and nearly destroyed your entire world. If Sunset Shimmer hadn't stopped her..."

"Whatever..." Cinch muttered, sitting back down.

Spike shook his head. "Oh, she's gonna be fun..." he muttered.

Twilight shook her head, gesturing to the pony with the spiral magic cutie mark. She gulped nervously and stood up. "M-My name is Starlight Glimmer. I used to run a cult in which I brainwashed ponies into letting me remove their cutie mark, reducing their special talents to the lowest common denominator. I was trying to create a society based on 'Equality, ' where no one was more special than anypony else."

Lightning Dust snorted. "Stupid plan. Crippled ponies would have been too vulnerable to attack from races that don't get marks, like dragons," she said.

"To say nothing of the horror of losing your cutie mark," Suri said softly. "It's a wonder you can sleep at nights after what you did..."

"Who says I am sleeping?" Starlight Glimmer said, grinning weakly. "My reasoning for my actions was... incredibly petty, I realize that now. After Twilight and her friends defeated me and freed my cult from my control, I... went a little insane and tried to use time travel to make sure Twilight never got to meet her friends. Apparently, my attempts to do this disrupted the timeline and created several dystopian futures, including one where every living thing on the planet died..."

Lightning Dust, Flim, Flam, Cinch, and Suri all looked between Twilight's group and Starlight with shock, disturbed by the idea. Chrysalis kept her face emotionless, but inside she was just as startled by the revelation that Twilight Sparkle and her friends were somehow the only thing that kept the world from falling apart. Discord just closed his eyes, knowing this already. Tirek and Sombra both stared intently at Starlight, very interested...

"Anyway..." Twilight said after a moment, having kept her face neutral throughout the event. "Discord, if you would?"

Discord stood up, bowing pleasantly. "Some of you already know me," he said. "I got around the first time I was let out of my stone prison. But for the sake of introductions, I am Discord! Master of Chaos and reformed spirit of Disharmony. I'm here for two reasons. One, because a few years ago I made reality my plaything and traumatized the planet. Two, to annoy the living daylights out of Twilight."

"Of course you are," Twilight said, passing a small bag of bits to Spike, who smirked.

"Told you," was all the little dragon said.

Twilight grumbled. "Anyway. Next?"

"Might as well..." Chrysalis said, not standing up. "I am Chrysalis, former Queen of the changeling race. I and my people invaded Canterlot in an attempt to conquer the nation and turn you ponies into a food source. Obviously, it hasn't worked out. I'm participating to help my people avoid starvation."

Before Twilight could response, reminding Chrysalis of her promise to help the changelings, Tirek spoke up. "I am Tirek. I am a conquerer, a magic-devouring demon. Although my ability to do so has been severely restricted. I am here because I tried to devour all the magic in Equestria and nearly succeeded. I'm also here because it's a better option than sitting in Tartarus for eternity."

Twilight just nodded, frowning. She definitely had some work to do with him... "Sombra? Your turn."

Smiling brightly and talking in a disturbingly cheerful voice. "Hiiii!" he chirped. "I'm King Sombra! I'm the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire! Or I was, until a candy-pink whore came along and stole my throne and all my delicious slave labor from me! I invented pedophilia! And necrophilia! And surprise-sex-that-you-didn't-know-you-wanted! And advertising executives!"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight shouted. Sombra snickered wickedly, Chrysalis shaking her head in disgust. Twilight rubbed her temples, and continued. "Anyway," she said, gesturing. Several easels and ink pens appeared, one next to each student. "Let's start with an assessment of your personalities. I want you to draw a picture that shows me what friendship means to you. We can form a base program for your reformation based on that. Would you kindly draw for me, please?"

The gathered ne'er-do-wells shrugged, and went to work. Cinch struggled with getting her pen to move, fumbling with her hooves. Twilight came over to the transformed human and gave her a quick lesson on how to lift things with her magic. Some of Sombra's chains were removed, allowing him to use his hooves. However, once he picked up an ink pen, he frowned. "Actually, your majesty..." he said, speaking with a surprising amount of respect. Could I try expressing what friendship means to me in a different medium?" 

Twilight nodded. "Certainly," she said. "What would you like?"

Sombra smiled sweetly. "Music. Do you have a guitar?"

Twilight nodded. "I think so. Spike?" she said, turning to her assistant, who was already running out of the room. Twilight nodded, and turned to the others. "Please keep drawing. We'll get to you all in time," she said. She turned back to Sombra. "Is it an original song?"

Sombra nodded, smiling pleasantly. "Yes. I thought up the lyrics just now," he said.

"Oh!" Twilight said. "That's nice!"

A few moments later, Spike came back, carrying a heavy guitar case as if it were nothing. Cinch marveled at the tiny creature's strength. Twilight took the case from him, opening it and offering the contents to Sombra. The dark king strummed a little at the guitar, smiling. "This will work, thank you," he said.

Twilight grinned, sitting down near Starlight as Sombra began to play.

"I call this tune, 'Autobiography,'" Sombra said in a quiet voice. With that, he began to SLAM his hoof down on the strings, playing a jangled discord of notes. "I WAAAAANT THE WOOOOORLD TO BUUUUUURRRN!"

Twilight grimaced, the others looking amused at this sudden change of events. The alicorn started to say something, but before she could, Sombra brought the guitar down on Twilight's head, shattering it. The former king cackled madly as the guards, along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, tackled him to the floor and started beating the crap out of him again. Discord, Tirek, and Chrysalis all laughed. Twilight dizzily staggered to the front of the room, Spike holding her up as best he could.

"Discord, would you kindly collect everyone's sketches and bring them to my office later?" Twilight managed after a moment. "After that, show everyone to their dorms. I think we're done for the day..." She stumbled out the door, Spike following behind her.

Discord nodded, finishing up his own sketch. Chrysalis snickered, shaking her head. "Okay, so maybe this won't be a complete waste of time and energy," she said, working on her own sketch and idly thinking about the future.

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_


End file.
